[PFS] PbP Gameday 3: #5–09: The Traitor’s Lodge (3–7) (Inactive)

Game Master bluedove

Pentor casts longstrider on himself, and start to move up.
I hope this won't hurt too much.

Been gone on thanksgiving travels as well, sry..

Gronk rages and moves to attack Shamak's target

Attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
Dam: 2d4 + 13 ⇒ (2, 3) + 13 = 18

Gronk and Shamak, the platform and cauldron are suspended 15 feet above the lower floor, so you can't reach blackie for melee attacks from there unless he swoops down on you. Feel free to re-position or make use of ranged weapons instead since this would have been obvious to your characters even if the map is a little misleading. Attacks would have missed regardless though.

Initiative Order - Surprise
------------------------------------
Enemies - fling boiling blood for 4 damage on Shamak, 8* on Valais
-----------------------------------Round 1
Random - fires, misses
Shamak - moves, begins performance
Sir Pentor and Nagini - MM on red for 9 damage
Valais - gores red for 14 damage
Enemies - strike Valais for negligible damage
Delphinia - MM on black for 9 damage
Turk - moves, begins performance offering rage
Gronk - moves, swings and misses
-----------------------------------Round 2
Random - hits red with acidic ray for 4 damage
Shamak - moves, swings and misses
Sir Pentor and Nagini - casts longstrider, moves
Valais: accepts rage
Claw 1: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21 Damage: 1d4 + 5 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 5 + (6) = 15
Enemies:
Black fling attack on Gronk: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23 Fire Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5 and flies
Delphinia
Turk
Gronk
-----------------------------------Round 3
Random
Shamak
Sir Pentor and Nagini
Valais
Enemies

The mismatched demonic creatures take a barrage of magic missiles and a shot from Random's acidic ray. Valais greedily accepts Turk's rage and viciously rends the red creature with her claws. It flops bonelessly over the lip of the cauldron before slipping back into it's bubbling depths. The black creature is more leery of the patchwork Pathfinder and splashes the boiling blood at Gronk before it takes wing and moves into the northeastern corner of the room and clings to the heavy iron chain set into the wall, grinning as it feels secure in it's perch.

Gronk takes 5 fire damage. Remember the creature is 15 feet up, Party is up again!

on his turn, Shamak will do the following actions:

Hissss!
Pentor commands Nagini to attack. she scrunches up . and climbs along the wall towards the ... imp thing...
so nagini is 15 ft. up , climbing.

Pentor moves down to the ground level and goes full defensive.
AC 29, touch 15

Gronk ends his rage and goes full defensive as well.. He looks around for other enemies that he can reach..

AC 21, Touch 14

Perc: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27

Turk, stops singing, draws his bow and fires a cold iron arrow at the creature. He moves as needed to gain a clear shot.

Longbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 221d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Delphinia will cast magic missile again
2d4 + 2 ⇒ (2, 1) + 2 = 5

Random moves down the stairs to the floor beneath. When he has a clear shot, he aims and fires at the black creature cowering in the corner.

Deadly shot, courage inspired: 1d20 + 5 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 5 - 1 + 1 = 17
Mundane arrow: 1d8 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 2 + 1 = 5

Initiative Order
-----------------------------------Round 2
Random - hits red with acidic ray for 4 damage
Shamak - moves, swings and misses
Sir Pentor and Nagini - casts longstrider, moves
Valais - accepts rage, claws and kills red
Black - splashes Gronk for 5 damage
Delphinia - MM on black for 5 damage
Turk - shoots black for 11 damage
Gronk - looks for other enemies
-----------------------------------Round 3
Random - shoots and misses
Shamak - shoots black for 10 damage
Sir Pentor and Nagini - climbs
Valais - double move
Enemies:
Black Claw 1: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17 Damage: 1d3 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 2 + (4) = 9
Black Claw 2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 Damage: 1d3 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 2 + (6) = 10
Black Bite: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9 Damage: 1d4 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 2 + (1) = 5
Delphinia
Turk
Gronk
-----------------------------------Round 4
Random
Shamak
Sir Pentor and Nagini
Valais
Enemies

Delphinia, Turk and Shamak strike the creature with their ranged attacks, wiping the smug grin from it's face. Valais has no means of reaching the menace so she charges down the stairs trying to draw nearer to it. It unleashes it's fury on the chain that holds the cauldron aloft, nearly breaking the link it thrashes with it's claws, bit the sturdy iron seems to hold together, barely.

The creature is looking weak and the party is up!

nagini charges in and bites it
bite,pa: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 10 + 2 = 191d4 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 think that misses iirc

Pentor will hang back since there's nothing he can do and rather not be on the floor if the chain snaps.

Turk, seeing the danger to the chain calls out for the group to get back up on the platform before the cauldron spills its contents. He then looses another shaft but is unable to connect.

Longbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 81d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Hearing Turk, Shamak moves back on the platform, screaming to the others to do the same.

Gronk follows the others and tries to avoid the cauldron..

Random precise shot, acidic ray, ranged touch, courage inspired: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 Arcane Failure if <15: 1d100 ⇒ 93
Acid damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Hoping to finish off the mischievous creature before it can completely break the chain holding the cauldron up, Random fires another acidic ray. The corrosive beam strikes the black thing and it tumbles from it's perch and strikes the floor 15 feet below.

COMBAT OVER!

With the threat removed, Gronk investigates the door again and detects no immediate threats. He opens the door and finds a small study beyond.
Maps of varying sizes drawn on paper, papyrus, and parchment of dozens of styles cover the walls of this chamber. Most of these bear sketched annotations of some form or another, and bare, rectangular spaces in the cartographic wallpaper attest to maps that have been hastily removed. An enormous parchment map of the Worldwound dominates the east wall above a solidly built wooden desk covered in a haphazard array of books and papers. Scores of charcoal symbols and indicators dot this map, pointing out sites of interest that are named less often than not. A hand-sized statue of a fiend stands on top of the desk.

Investigating the study requires a 10 minutes of reading and a Linguistics or appropriate Profession check, or an Intelligence check can be substituted.

Turk spends some time investigating the study.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

geography: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

history: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

Planes: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Hey, most of these map annotations relate to sites tied to dwarves history. Interesting… Oh and I am pretty sure the that four armed hand-sized demon statue is a a glabrezu. That could be bad.

"Hmm. A demon? Very interesting. Should we go back investigate the magic circle with abyssal writings we omitted to investigate before?"

As Turk steps into the room and begins flipping through the books and papers, the carved mouth of the demon statue begins to speak:
“Ah, Thurl, you’re back. I trust your little vacation to Jormurdun was pleasant and that my brethren did not demolish your laboratory in their conquest of Nerosyan. Now that I know where you are, I shall join you shortly. There are plans in motion that go far beyond our original compact, and I wish to make you a part of them.” The message delivered, the statue again grows still and silent.

The Abyssal Library and the room with the strange chalk were skipped in the interest of making the most of Gronk's active effects.
The following skills may be used to perform your research in the Abyssal Library: Appraise, Heal, Knowledge (arcana, planes, or religion), Linguistics, or acceptable Profession skill.
The room with the chalk has writing in the Abyssal Language yet to be deciphered. Also the flooded chamber and the room beyond it remain unexplored.

Know Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Know: geography: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

"I agree. These look like maps of places."

"Soooo... is he meeting us here? Are we sure we want to be here when he gets here?"

Know: arcana: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Random absent-mindedly runs a finger across some of the books on the shelves as the party returns to the Library. One title catches his eye, though, and soon he starts reading through several of the titles on the shelves. He picks a few out and starts flipping through pages on this one, and then that one... "Interesting."

Shamak looks through the books.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Knowledge (Planes): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

it did sound like the demon is going to make its way here now... we are probably short on time, I hope we do not regret skipping those rooms soon...

we don't have half an hour with a Glabrezu on the way... whatever that is, it sounds dangerous. Turk, you recognize it. what can you tell us of Glabrezus? Glabrezi?

Maybe we have time to explore the muck filled chamber and get out before the creature arrives.

I know the text seems to imply you are running out of time, but ignore that for now. You have not accumulated the required number of evidence points yet. Really need everyone to contribute what they can so we can hit these DC's folks!

Random Appraise: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Random Heal: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Shamak Appraise: 1d20 ⇒ 20
Shamak Heal: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

This library contains the darkest and most depraved material of Thurl’s collection, the contents of which go beyond amateur curiosity or even detached academic study. Each book details obscene Abyssal rituals, diagrams illustrating with a torturer’s morbid precision the anatomy of scores of creatures, untold annotations, and even decades of tables that closely resemble a shopkeeper’s ledgers.

Shamak learns that Thurl has experimented for years in the creation of Abyssal hybrids — dissecting demon corpses, sewing pieces back together, soldering and animating them with essence derived from Abyssal larvae, and often discarding imperfect creations. Annotations and notes scattered across a dozen volumes reference how he has “devised a technique to rival the creative power of Lamashtu’s womb,” “gone beyond the limited theories he purchased from Aslynn,” and even “discovered how to harness the power of the marilith.” In addition, the ledgers seem to track fluctuations in the price of larvae, the souls of those condemned to the Abyss, which you recognize as valuable planar trade goods. In fact, the texts indicate that Thurl actively participated in the larvae trade.

There is still the room with the blue-grey chalk and Abyssal writing, which Valais has not seen yet. *hint*
The flooded chamber and Turk could use some aid in Thurl's study still. (Linguistics, Intelligence or appropriate Profession check)

Appraise Aid: 1d20 ⇒ 15
Heal Aid: 1d20 ⇒ 10

The rest are trained and i cannot aid on them.

Int Check: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Heal, Aid another: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 Oh well.

After his researches in the library, Shamak thinks he shall try to go ask Valais if she knows anything about the place.

"Venture-Captain, we have found strange and horrible pieces of information about what Thurl did here. But there's a room you might want to see. Maybe you can help us to identify what it is."

since now seems to be the time to investigate then:
DC 20 heal.
DC 16 k. arcana ( or successful aid if allowed )

hmmmm. Perhappppssss it would be better to study these and go carefully. something we find out here may illuminate what was going on here, and give us a more educated guess on what went wrong.... if no one objectssss i will study some of the textsss in the room. While some of us do that, othersss can look at the exchange in abyssal and try to make out what its saying

if there's no objections he'll sit down and start reading in the library. there's plenty of time to interrupt him if they object. after half hour of reading: (it may go faster if some others help with the research... )

30 minutes later wrote:

research@heal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
research@arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Intelligence aid for Turk in Thurl's study: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Random tries to make his way back to the study, but he gets lost. When he ends up back in the library again, he decides it may be better to stay there.

Valais has been jumping at shadows since the statue spoke, but Shamak's inquiry seems to focus her. She holds a minor wound as she moves into the room with the writing on the wall. "This writing, I can read it, I believe." She goes on to explain that it seems to be a conversation between two parties, likely using magic. She points out a particular portion and translates it for you. "I believe the writing in blue to be the work of Thurl, the TRAITOR."

Writing on the Wall

"Well, well, so Thurl was not comunnicating with one corrupted power but with two! I don't like the sound of that."

Shamak goes to the flooded chamber try to help Turk in his investigation.

Intelligence: 1d20 ⇒ 13

after trying to help in the study, pentor and nagini will have a through look in the presumably empty flooded chamber.

perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

"Thurl was carved from runes? Does that make him some kind of golem?"

"I wonder where the 'regular place' is... that's Jormurdun?"

I believe that refers to his specific practice of the arts arcane. Turk adds.

"Well, well, so Thurl was not comunnicating with one corrupted power but with two! I don't like the sound of that."

Shamak goes to the flooded chamber try to help Turk in his investigation.

I'll presume you meant the study, aid noted

Valais nods in response to Shamak's statement. Delphina casts detect magic in the room with the writing on the wall. She determines the circles on the floor are called speaking circles and that the room is set up to maintain the two-way communication... anything written on the wall here will be communicated somehow to the other party, perhaps in a similar room.

Valais takes up a piece of the steel-blue chalk and looks to the group.
"I may be able to contact this unknown collaborator of the TRAITOR. Perhaps we can learn more and fool the writer into giving themselves away..."

Delphinia Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
Valais Int: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (16) - 3 = 13

The sickening stench of the decomposing globster is difficult to endure, but Nagini finds that the flooded chamber is indeed empty now.
I don't think Nagini is capable of opening the door, however.

Yes that's right, Shamak meant to help him in his study :)

Nagini and Pentor were both going wading in the water looking around, after Pentor helps with what he can in the study. Can the checks be retried with additional time spent studying the books?

Pentor listens at the door and examines it for any traps.
perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

Ah, I hadn't checked the map for a while. I was thinking the room past the flooded room was the study. Other than this, it sounds like the only thing there is left to do is try to bluff the demon pen pal into revealing his name.

Random follows Pentor to the watery chamber. When he's hit by the smell, he stays at the entrance. He takes out his bow, just in case.

Gronk takes a look/listen as well..

Perc: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22

You've uncovered what you can from the Library, but we still need anyone who can to make an Linguistics/Intelligence/Profession check to assist Turk in the Study.

Water fills the entirety of this unfinished stone chamber. Two wide cracks in the northeastern section of the wall connect into a single widening tunnel. It looks as if Thurl may have been trying to expand his underground complex when he struck a subterranean river which flooded the passage.

There is a tunnel that extends northeast, but it is completely flooded and requires the swimmer to either breathe water or hold their breath the entire way. Crunched the numbers and it doesn't look like even Nagini can travel it safely. =/

Valais asks again, "Should I try and make contact using the Speaking Circles, my Pathfinder minions? I FEAR our time grows short... What should I write?"

You can assist Valais in writing to the unknown contact. Use Bluff checks to try and aid in pretending to be Thurl, and/or use Linguistics or Sleight of Hand to help her mimic Thurl's handwriting. Also note, now would be a good time for healing.

To Valais "Maybe before you do that, we should explore this flooded room and what lies beneath."

intelligence+guidance: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6

Bluff: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Ya, nagini has a swim speed, but shes just a trained snake.
Hmmh. What if i shape shift to a medium water reptile or a dolphin with swim and better breathing control ? Ive not used my wild shape yet today iirc.

Failing that, untrained bluff assist
bluff: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (19) - 2 = 17

can i see down , whether i'll need strength or speed? i can either go small octopus or monitor lizard , both will give a swim speed 30 .

I'll probably go monitor lizard...

i'm poorly prepared for healing ( gm credit character mostly ), and would appreciate any to recover the 4 i'm down. I don't think nagini was damaged yet but i might have missed some.

Here, have a cup of CLW :D

Wand of CLW on Pentor: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

And by the way, let's roll my bluff aid anyway.

Aid bluff: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

ooh. it tinglesssss

Bluff aid: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

"Hm.. maybe we should tell him the reagents weren't there?"

Sir Pentor peers ahead through the flooded tunnel as far as he is able and he does not see an end to the tunnel or pockets of air along the way. Figuring this into his plans, he decides a creature that can breathe water would be best to survive the journey.

Valais listens to your suggestions and does her best to formulate the first line.
She writes, "Are you there? I told you we would have words if you didn't abide by our bargain. Where are my reagents?"

Valais Forgery+aid: 1d20 + 2 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 2 + 8 = 28

It takes only a few moments for the reply to appear red and dripping wet as if the wall has bled to reveal the words.
“I made sure they were delivered to the usual place. Have you forgotten your own hiding places, Prince of Sigils?”

So, what message shall we send?

intelligence: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

intelligence: 1d20 ⇒ 1

That's enough runes for Shamak. He leaves before his head explodes.